


rusty faucets and broken nails

by bluehasnoclues



Series: naruto oneshots [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Hurt, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sort Of, Uzumaki Naruto Needs a Hug, there was no comfort involved in the writing of this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 12:26:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17345198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluehasnoclues/pseuds/bluehasnoclues
Summary: The bell test, but Naruto is a little more broken and a lot more desperate. Kakashi-sensei said they had to try to kill him if they wanted to pass, and Naruto's always been a survivor.





	rusty faucets and broken nails

He was hungry. 

He hadn't eaten — their sensei had told them not to. He wouldn't go against orders. If their sensei said 'don't eat', he wouldn't eat. 

But he was  _so hungry._

It was a survival exercise, Kakashi-sensei had said. To test them. 

(Because he hadn't been tested enough?) 

They might be sent back, Kakashi-sensei had said, and Naruto would sit through another year at the Academy, playing his part as the boy he'd become. 

He arrived at the training ground precisely at six. He wasn't surprised when Kakashi-sensei was late. 

(He  _was_ surprised when Sasuke was late, even though it was only by ten minutes.)

(Especially when Sakura was only late by a minute.)

Sakura's stomach growled, and she gave an awkward laugh. They'd been waiting for almost two hours; just in time to watch the sunrise, as the clouds shifted from grey to pink to white and the air warmed around them. Naruto sat against a tree; Sasuke stood impatiently, and Sakura shifted nervously, eyes darting between them. 

He was so, so hungry, but he was used to hunger, so it was okay. 

Their sensei came three hours and forty-two minutes after Naruto had first sat down. The silver-haired man only beamed a false smile from under his mask, apologies and excuses irrelevant. Naruto stayed silent, even as Sakura shouted and Sasuke 'hn'd in agreement. 

(They weren't used to adults being  _adults,_ Naruto supposed.) 

Kakashi-sensei explained the bell test with eyes that expected them to fail. He was a jounin, after all; Naruto could sense the power that he held back, the same way that he could sense a blow before it came or how hard a hit would land. He had sensed the same in the landlord as he'd raised his fist, or the shop-owners that smiled cruelly before denying him service, threats on the tip of their tongues. 

Kakashi-sensei expected them to fail, and Naruto expected that he was right. 

His sensei explained that they would have to attack with 'intent to kill'. Naruto wasn't sure how he felt about that, if he ignored the immediate rising of determination deep in his stomach. He didn't  _want_ to kill his sensei. Kakashi-sensei was supposed to be his  _teacher._

Naruto had only had so many teachers who actually taught. 

But his sensei had given him an order, and Naruto was  _hungry._

He could ask Sasuke or Sakura for help, he supposed; it would increase the likelihood of their success immensely. But they didn't trust him. (No one did.) And how would they win if Naruto couldn't let himself show his back? 

(He had learned that the hard way.)

His teammates ran to the bushes. They hid well. Naruto would give them that. 

Kakashi-sensei raised an eyebrow. "Not going to hide?" The silver-haired man asked, sounding both curious and sarcastic, with an underlining of something Naruto couldn't quite identify. 

(His stomach wanted to growl, but he had stopped that habit a long time ago, because growling meant noise and noise meant people would find him and hurt him.)

(He'd gotten very, very good at ignoring hunger, even when it gnawed on his bones and feasted on his flesh not unlike the creature inside him.) 

"I'll beat you head-on, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled, trying to sound confident, forcefully keeping his head up high. "You better watch out!" 

Kakashi-sensei looked disappointed. 

(Naruto wasn't surprised. Iruka-sensei was the only one to ever look at him with pride, and even then, the warmth was tinged with sadness.) 

Naruto swallowed; he should have had water before this, because even the iron-tasting stuff that came out of his rusted pipes would be better than what felt like a hole inside of him. It shouldn't bother him, he knew, because he was  _so used to it, he had done this time and time again_ — but something about the new situation, the opportunity for a new start, made the ever-present feeling of  _hunger_ seem as unbearable as it had on his earlier lonely nights, back before he'd learned to play pranks  _for at least the looks of others were something, even if it was only disgust painted on their features_ or close his eyes in class because  _if they thought he was asleep he wouldn't have to hear the taunts, and then they had time to speak to each other, sharing kind words and sentiments that he treasured even if they weren't for him._

Kakashi-sensei didn't take him seriously. Naruto understood, and it (almost) didn't bother him to see his sensei take out a book. 

(There was a reason Naruto made such a good target. He wasn't intimidating and he rarely fought back.)

But Kakashi-sensei had told him to kill, and playing along with adults' orders tended to work in Naruto's favor. His 'games' were usually tinged with a little death, anyway; did his classmates mean to harm him as they threw rocks at his head? Did his neighbors really want him dead as they rigged his doorway with exploding tags?

(Either way, he healed quickly.)

Naruto ran at Kakashi-sensei. The jounin no doubt sensed him coming, but Naruto couldn't think about that. He  _wouldn't_ think about that, because he was  _hungry_ _,_ and if he wanted food, he had to kill. 

(Distasteful, but who was a poor orphan boy to disobey an order?) 

Naruto threw out his fist; his arm hit the air weakly and the momentum pitched him forward. He caught himself on the ground, barely touching down, before launching his body at his sensei. 

(If he was hurt, he was hurt. It was fine. All he wanted was a bell.)

Naruto didn't need jutsu. It rarely worked for him, anyway; his chakra was slippery, vast, and would fall out his hands before he'd made the sign. So he punched (sloppy) and kicked (worse) and fell (hard) until he was panting, and then he stood to do it again. 

"Maa. Why don't you give up?" 

Naruto threw dirt in his sensei's single eye. 

(Pity the man wouldn't breathe it in.) 

There was a rock on the ground; he flung that, too, followed by his teeth that he used as fangs and nails that he used as claws. He  _would_ win. He  _had to_ win. 

Naruto was  _so hungry._  

His body ached with need and he fought harder, fiercer, replacing his sensei's face with the men who cornered him at night and the women who watched from the windows. He  _wouldn't_ let this man beat him down; not when he had a chance to finally  _eat._

Kakashi-sensei swung his foot, his face still buried in his book; Naruto took the hit and took his sensei's belt in return. He kicked it across the field, as far as it would go; and then he grinned, mouth bloodied and teeth red. 

At Kakashi-sensei's taken-aback look, Naruto supposed he might look like the monster they expected him to be. (The monster that was inside him.)

The taste of iron was worth it.

Silver bells glinted against green grass. 

 

 

Sasuke sprinted out into the field, to the bells lying on the ground. Of course he had thought out the purpose to the test; it was obvious, really, but who was he to interfere if the dobe wanted to take a go on his own. 

(He wouldn't waste the opportunity, though. He needed to avenge his clan, and what were _morals_ in the face of that?)

Sakura followed Sasuke-kun, ever-loyal.

 

 

Kakashi let them pass, but it was with a heavy gaze and a conflicted heart. 

Warriors would die on the field, but perhaps survivors would have a chance. 

**Author's Note:**

> so. that happened.
> 
> and yes him being hungry is both literal (um. food??) and a metaphor for his absolute shitty childhood


End file.
